Archive for the ‘Alfa Romeo Giulietta’ Category

Introduced in 2010, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta is very long in the tooth as of 2019, but this isn’t stopping the Italian firm from keeping the hatchback in production with mild upgrades. Following a small facelift in 2016, the Giulietta shows off a new update at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Unfortunately, it’s far from impressive.

It may not mean much in the long run, but Alfa Romeo’s recent trademark application of the “Giulietta” name in the U.S. could be a sign that the Italian automaker is doubling down on its push to be relevant in the business again. According to Car and Driver Alfa’s parent company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, filed a trademark application for the name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Now what this means is anybody’s guess at this point, but it is worth mentioning that Alfa Romeo does have a hatchback model in its future plans, something we all learned about when the company unveiled its updated five-year plan back in 2016. At that time, the “mysterious hatchback” was being penciled in to debut sometime between 2017 and 2020. It’s not clear if this future hatch will still carry the Giulietta name, but the possibility of that happening is a lot more real now that FCA has filed a trademark application for the name. It would be better though if we got any sort of updates from Alfa Romeo itself beyond its typical PR spin. As it stands, the company is making some noise on the back of how well the Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV have been received. But those two models can’t continue to carry the weight for Alfa Romeo. At some point, they’re going to need a third model to share in some of that burden. Whether that model is the Giulietta or not remains to be seen. But if this trademark application bears fruit in the end, we could be seeing the Giulietta in U.S. shores sooner than later.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

What could this trademark application mean for Alfa Romeo

“The current-generation model certainly has some mileage in it on account of it being around for seven years now”

To be fair, the current Alfa Romeo Giulietta isn’t dead yet. It’s actually still being sold in the US, and somewhat surprisingly, it has held its own against more established rivals like the Mercedes CLA-Class,BMW 2 Series, and Audi A3. It’s not lighting its segment on fire, but it has performed about as well as Alfa would’ve expected out of it. That leads us to questions about its future. Is the Giulietta doing well enough to warrant getting another update or an entirely new-generation offering? The current-generation model certainly has some mileage in it on account of it being around for seven years now so if Alfa Romeo does decide to bring back the Giulietta, it could be doing so under the premise that a next-generation model is around the corner.

That’s probably why this trademark application was taken care of pretty quickly, especially with all the rumors swirling about its own fate as part of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Remember, the automaker is in a curious position because of all the whispers that FCA is looking into selling its stake in the company. It’s not the most ideal place to be in knowing that the company could change ownership at any given point in time so even that long-term strategy that started with the respective launches of the Giulia and Stelvio could change if Alfa finds itself answering to a new boss.

“Alfa Romeo's updated five-year plan includes a hatchback model that may or may not be the next-generation Giulietta”

Nevertheless, that situation really is out of Alfa Romeo’s hands so it can’t wait for any resolution on that matter before it starts doing anything meaningful again. What it should do is to remain committed to meeting goals from its updated five-year plan. That includes a hatchback model that may or may not be the next-generation Giulietta. Either way, Alfa Romeo’s doing its homework by filing this trademark application. If it decides to go in a different direction, it can do that. But if it decides to once again ride on the shoulders of the Giulietta name – here in the U.S., at least – it can do that as well.

Should be interesting to see where this goes because the Giulietta, for all its quirks and hang-ups, is still a very interesting model.

After more than five years on the market, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta is in desperate need of a makeover. With sales sliding well below 50,000 units a year and with Alfa Romeo having launched the bonkers Giulia QV, there were hopes of a significant facelift for the Giulietta. Unfortunately, the Italians decided that the hatchback will hang around in its current form for a couple more years and didn’t put much effort into its mid-cycle update.

As suggested by the camouflaged prototypes we saw on the road back in 2015, design changes were kept to a minimum, while the interior received minor touches and an revised infotainment system. That’s way too little when you’re competing against the Volkswagen Golf and the Ford Focus, but Alfa Romeo is probably more concerned about the next-generation model that’s expected to arrive in 2018 than its ambitious 400,000 units per year volume target.

Despite Marchionne’s promise to turn the Italian brand around, Alfa Romeo is still struggling, and the delayed launch of the Giulia and arrival of the brand’s first SUV are proof of that. The lack of a significant update for the Giulietta adds to that and Alfa Romeo enthusiasts might not take it lightly. It remains to be seen whether the Giulietta’s facelift will be a complete flop, but it’s more than obvious that the hatch won’t make an impact in this highly disputed segment.

Alfa Romeo shook the auto world when they revealed the new Giulia with its fancy looks and Ferrari-sourced engine. The vibrations of that shock is still being felt, mostly in renderings inspired by the Giulia. This is what the next Alfa Romeo Giulietta could look like if it goes the way of Giulia.

It would be great if Alfa Romeo let the bold attitude that spawned the new Giulia to trickle down to their cherished hatchbacks, Giulietta and MiTo. As you can see in this rendering, the new sedan would make a pretty handsome hatchback. The designer has fiddled a bit with the headlights and stuff to make them fit the Giulietta’s size, but still, it’s a good look for the car.

What we would really like to see is a QV version of Alfa Romeo Giulietta inspired by the Giulia QV. We’re not saying they should put a twin-turbo V6 in this family hatchback, but a beefier version of the 1,750cc turbo unit that powers the 4C – with around 300 horsepower – would turns this car into a proper hatchback. Maybe that’s the next segment the new “sensible” Alfa Romeo should enter.